I don't see how the condom thing is a bad thing. Even if the rapists are using the condoms, that still means that at least they aren't also spreading disease. And I find it somewhat suspicious that this is the way that they try to address the prison rape problem--seems rather tangential to the discussion where teen pregnancy is only discussed in the context of restricting access to decent sex ed to teenagers.

I love the elimination of the "mommy track", but I would also like to see those options available to fathers and people providing care for elderly parents as well.

What Manda said: it's just as important, or perhaps even more important, to do something that will ensure women are not obligated to spend so much time with their children while their husbands freely work 80-hour weeks.

I totally agree with manda and Alon on the "Mommy Track" article.pr

The article did say that "in general" all of these programs are available to fathers as well, but that very few of them are actually using them because they fear being seen as "career lightweighs." So the possibilities are already there, it's just a matter of getting men to actually accept equally the responsibilities (and rewards) of raising their children. But the employers in the article have done their part.

When I first started reading the article I was annoyed (as usual) by the way it took for granted that women will always be the ones juggling family and career. I found it refreshing and inspiring to learn that men can take advantage of all these programs as well, so maybe getting them to actually use these possibilities is a bit more realistic.

I can not help but think that the argument of making condoms available in prisons may encourage rape - is the same theory used if condoms or sex education are accessible to teens; they will be more likely to have sex.
I don't know, something to think about anyway. It is interesting that studies have shown that inmates are generally having consensual sex and are in fact did not acquire HIV within prison but from an outside source. Additionally, it is common for guards and inmates to engage in sex, therefore a non-inmate (guard) may bring an infection outside to his/her partner.
This leads me to believe that condoms and prevention measures must be available to inmates and guards in a prison to reduce infections rates.

Kazorp, I think you hit the nail on the head! I can't imagine that giving an inmate a condom is going to make him think: wow, now I can go sexually assault someone! It's probably as likely as giving a high school student a condom and having him or her think: cool, my teachers and parents want me to have sex!

"... it is common for guards and inmates to engage in sex ..."

Common? By what basis is this common? This would seem like a very unusual occurance to me.

I am really uncomfortable with the idea of countries policing women's weight. I understand the thought behind it. Wanting to protect young people from developing a dangerous disorder is a noble cause. However, I'm wary of the idea of close scrutiny of models' bodies, expecially if weight is used as a way of barring them from employment.

"Common? By what basis is this common? This would seem like a very unusual occurance to me."

Maybe "common" was not the right choice of words, but it does happen.

Here is some info on a recent CDC study done on HIV rates within the prison population:

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=36761

Guards and inmates having sex isn't uncommon, but it's technically rape.

I don't agree with the reasoning that providing condoms would increase the amount of rape, though. I can't imagine someone thinking, "Damn, if only I had condoms, I could rape that guy over there, but I don't, luckily for him."

codepink is doing the right's work for it -- that is: lying about hillary clinton (or perhaps they're just stupid?).

she did not sponsor a flag-burning amendment. when it came up, she very clearly stated that the constitution is not the place to deal with that.
http://www.votehillary.org/CMS/node/69

codepink's wording about wal-mart seems deliberately misleading as well. hillary is not currently serving on wal-mart's board -- she did that long before wal-mart was controversial, when she was a governor's wife in arkansas.

what politicians don't support the death penalty? dennis kucinich? by all means, lets run him against john mccain in '08. at least he's got a dick, right?

if that is truly hillary's position on gay marriage (given the other errors, i don't believe a word codepink says henceforth), then yeah, that's stupid. again, show me a candidate who agrees with me on everything. then one who agrees with you on everything. then one who agrees with codepink on everything... they're helping the right weaken one of the best senators we have. why would they do that?

codepink fails to mention that hillary was instrumental in getting us plan b over the counter, has voted against (i think) all of bush's utter crap judicial nominees and tax cuts for the rich, voted against cafta, and sponsored a bill to make it easier for people to vote in this so-called "democracy," among many other progressive positions.

she is also putting pressure on people like donald rumsfeld to stop fucking up in iraq. for people who don't think abandoning iraqis to utter chaos because they hate bush so much is a kind thing to do, that's the right course of action for democrats, who, you'll recall, have little power in this corrupt republican congress to do a damn thing besides speak out.

next time check your facts. codepink is full of shit.

gah.

It's very nice that Hillary is realizing that the invasion of Iraq wasn't a good idea. Everyone else who knew it was a sham back when it came up for a vote can just fuck off, because Ms. Let's Not Criticize the GOP Until Its Approval Rate Drops Below 40% is on the scene.

nah, its diane feinstein who's co-sponsoring the flag burning amendment, not hillary.
Hillary is supporting a senate bill that will prohibit flag desecration on federal property, and make it a crime to itimidate anyone by burning a flag (not just the american flag, I believe).
Although without an amendment, this will probably go down in the supreme court.

i am pretty depressed at codepink's stance on hillary clinton. it is already a struggle fro hillary to play the patriarchy game....i like to believe that anything questionable about hillary's politics boils down to the fact that she has to do a certain amount of "fitting in" in order to keep her constituents happy. when it comes down to it, i am really unhappy that a women's group like codepink isn't positively ecstatic about the possibility of hillary running for presidency...!! for the most part, ANYBODY would be better than the group of goons that are currently at the helm.....

exactly, avril. name one male politician in the flag burning brouhaha. you can't -- because codepink (and some commenters here) are attacking only prominent female politicians.

yay feminism!

So I got to this post belatedly - a standout for me was the chicago reader article on hairbraiding. I noticed the way that the African women and the African-American women the article follows are unable to find solidarity and a point of contact and organize. It's a pattern I've seen before, and it's hard to know what to do about it, building women's movements in black micro-communities. It's not that I keep expecting black women to swoon into each other's arms with love and solidarity just because of shared ethnicity (at university it got me down when people would name someone and say 'she's a black girl...do you know her?') - I see that these women recognise each other as mainstays of beauty cultures that oppose each other in small but significant ways. But it doesn't help their cause that the men who are helping the different hair braiding groups orchestrate their battles against these new state requirements are ignoring the divisions amongst the women in the light of the situation as both a business issue and a battle in which it's the black male's duty to get the 'white man's foot off the black woman's neck'...gah.